When It's Not Enough
by hnnn
Summary: Tsuna and Kyoya are childhood friends, but no matter how close they are, they'll still have their doubts about their friendship - and Tsuna feels like he doesn't even know half of what Kyoya is thinking. (1827 / childhood friend AU whoops)


**Heyo! I haven't updated Katekyo in a long time so here have this story as compensation hahahahaha**

**No but really I am currently writing chapter 8 do not fret do not frown ok la (^:**

**However, this will be a short story! Probably four chapters at most yeah**

**Hope you like wheee I like high schoolAUs I have been planning on writing one for a very long time huff hUFf**

**Also I am rereading the manga which is good fun**

* * *

"If you aren't next to me within ten seconds, I'll bite you to death."

A painfully loud scream could be heard almost immediately after Kyoya had said it, and he almost laughed. He'd meant it as a joke, of course, but it was amusing - and also extremely easy - to rile Tsuna up in the morning.

Kyoya also wasn't prepared to wait a single more minute to get to school - he despised being late.

"Thanks, Kyoya! I don't know what I would do without you, really."

Kyoya turned around to face Tsuna's beaming mother; a slight smile donned his face and he stepped aside to let Tsuna through his front gate.

"No problem, Nana. It's a small task," Kyoya said lightheartedly.

Tsuna looked up at Kyoya as he said this, frowning as if to doubt his words. The prefect hadn't noticed the small gesture, so they continued their daily walk to school after saying their goodbyes.

Usually, they'd have nothing to talk about, and would continue their trip to school in silence, but there'd been something stubborn dwelling in Tsuna's mind since last night. He'd drunk a whole cup of coffee previously, so it took a gruelling session of overthinking to get him to sleep.

Tsuna, though regrettably a bit dumb, was the type of person who couldn't be left alone. One of the reasons why this was so, was because he wasn't good at handling and making sense of his thoughts.

He usually tried to avoid thinking too much, but he'd lose his self-control and end up tiring himself out too quickly. The particular thing nagging at his mind was due to something a classmate had said to him the other day, however.

Tsuna didn't blame said classmate for his inner turmoil, but if he hadn't pointed it out, he would never had thought of it in that perspective.

.

Yamamoto Takeshi was an outgoing sort of guy - friends with everyone - so it'd been a little unexpected for him to make conversation with someone like Tsuna.

"Sawada, you're childhood friends with that Hibari Kyoya, right?"

Tsuna turned around slowly and nodded, then tilted his head to the side as if he were to say, "Why do you ask?"

"He's a bit... Scary, don't you think?" he said, chuckling sheepishly.

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows together; Kyoya? 'Scary'? He knew Kyoya had a feared reputation within the school - and around Namimori, even - but not once had Tsuna ever been scared of the prefect.

"Not really, he's a nice person."

"So he's nice to you?"

"Well, he's not particularly 'nice' to me, bu-"

"If he's not nice to you, then why do you still hang around him after so many years? Isn't that tiring? I would be sick of him."

"It's not..." Tsuna struggled for words, his finger tapping on his chair, "He's not a 'nice' person, I know that. It's difficult for him to be an entirely nice person, but I don't mind, and he doesn't mind me being near him."

"Huh? How do you know that?"

"Huh?"

"Well, how do you know he 'doesn't mind'?"

"I'm sure I would know Kyo-chan better than you would..."

Yamamoto blinked, "'Kyo-chan'? Do you call Hibari 'Kyo-chan'?"

Tsuna's eyes widened. "F-Forget what I said..!"

Yamamoto laughed and gave a sheepish grin. "It's fine. Forget what I said too. I went a little out of hand."

Tsuna had tried not to think about their small talk, but his mind seemed to take over what the teacher was explaining. He'd never doubted him and Kyoya's friendship, but it didn't take long for the idea to occupy his thoughts completely.

.

"Hey, Kyo-chan..."

Kyoya's mouth twitched a little upon hearing Tsuna call him by the childish nickname. A little more embarrassed than mad, he decided to let this one time slip as they were alone.

Admittedly, he was a bit irked at the way Tsuna seemed to patronise him. Nevertheless, he was fine with it. It was an old nickname from over a decade ago, back when Kyoya was considered a sweet kinda kid.

"Hmm?"

"You..."

Tsuna paused, thinking that it'd be a little awkward if he brought the topic up at this time.

"You're going to the field trip, right?" Tsuna asked.

Kyoya glanced over at Tsuna apathetically, then exhaled softly, gazing at the open, lilac sky above them. They were on the way back home - it was a normal thing for the pair to do, since they lived next-door to one another.

Tsuna had stayed back a couple of hours, waiting for Kyoya to finish filling out student attendance forms for the semester. He'd encouraged Tsuna to go home earlier, but Tsuna stayed put and gave a meek smile that made Kyoya unable to protest.

Not that the prefect didn't enjoy his company, though.

"Well," Kyoya said, "I don't see why I should go."

It was summer, so the field trip for the grade would be set for the beach. It wasn't very much an ideal place for large groups of students to spend the day at, but everyone tried to make the most out of it, seeing as how it would mean missing out on classes.

"Oh yeah," Tsuna said, "you hate crowding."

"Yeah. Gives me the hives."

"You're not funny."

"Do you think I was joking?"

Tsuna stopped to give a deadpan stare at Kyoya, to which he returned with a slightly amused look. "I was joking."

"Loser," Tsuna whispered, averting eye contact as he started to walk again.

"Hey, I'll bite you to death if you say that again."

"But you never do."

Kyoya opened his mouth to retort with a joke, but for some reason, the tone in the boy's voice stopped him. Tsuna acted as if it were the most casual thing to say, judging from his nonchalant face, but they both knew that wasn't what he intended.

There was something about the way he said it - something very straight-to-the-point and a little shaky, as if he were afraid to say it.

"What are you suggesting?"

Tsuna glanced at Kyoya from under his lashes, and was surprised to see a steady gaze from Kyoya, as if he were the only thing worth listening to in the entire world.

"No, never mind."

Kyoya insisted stubbornly, "Tsuna."

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Tsuna averted his eyes and stared ahead of him, their houses still very far away. It would probably take around ten minutes to arrive, which wasn't so much of a bad or good thing.

The pair had lived across the road from each other ever since they could remember, and their mothers had been good friends - though Kyoya's mother's schedule had become packed as of recently, so they weren't as close as before.

The sudden change of environment had caused some sort of confusion and pain to the young Kyoya, and he was vulnerable at the time. As a child, he would sleep and eat alone, hardly ever seeing his parents. If he did, they would apologise - maybe cry - and leave almost immediately after.

Nana had been almost a second mother for Kyoya during that period, with him being at Tsuna's house half of the time and even sleeping over for as long as two weeks at a time.

Tsuna and Kyoya were inseperable - best friends, you could say - but one day, Kyoya had suddenly stopped visiting and before Tsuna could ask him about it, he had already gained the reputation of 'Namimori's most feared delinquent'.

Something had changed inside Kyoya, and Tsuna had never known what it was exactly. He still didn't.

Kyoya never planned on telling Tsuna what happened, ever. Even presently, Tsuna didn't understand what Kyoya did during the times he wasn't next to him, and he respected that - but he couldn't help but worry about it.

Tsuna knew Kyoya was strong, but for all they knew, he could break at any time. His strong pretense could shatter at a mere, gentle tap of the finger, and that was what scared Kyoya the most.

The fact that he couldn't protect Tsuna.

However, Tsuna wasn't going to play dumb anymore. He wanted to know why Kyoya acted the way he did, just to make sure that both their feelings were genuine, and more importantly, mutual.

Tsuna craved self-affirmation, and the conversation he had earlier in the day had just so happened to trigger this need.


End file.
